The Game
by super ario
Summary: In which Wally doesn't want to talk but Abby doesn't really care. 4/5 friendship. Language warning.


**Author's Note:** Hello, my friends. I am back with another 4x5 fic because they just kill me and I'm so mad about it. I started writing this late last night and I didn't finish most of it until around four in the morning, when I gave up on my fingers and decided to go rest. I haven't managed to get any sleep yet still, so I'm a bit delusional as I'm writing this. I came back to finish the rest of it this morning and I hope that you enjoy it. It's similar to another story I've done long before (titled _Brilliance_), in which 4 feels he's stupid and 5 tells him he's stupid for believing that he's stupid. Stupidception. I feel like 4 is the type of person who sometimes doesn't try very hard with some things because people don't expect him to, like schoolwork. It was pretty clear in the fourth grade that he wasn't the most advanced student at Gallagher Elementary but still (usually) did his best to do what he could, even if he was far from doing things right. Unfortunately not many people around him seemed to take his efforts very seriously and that can do a lot of damage to someone's self esteem, even if it's not always physically obvious. This one-shot basically takes place around the time that the kids are in high school, around grade 10 or 11 (warning: this features some very teenage language - and by that I mean there's quite a few curse words in here). By then I imagine that 4's matured to some extent and has gotten his shit together when it comes to his education and things like that. It's around that age that kids really start to think about what sort of path they want to follow after high school, and I admire the thought that 4 pictures himself as a doctor because I don't think it's something that anyone could ever really see happening for him, considering his previous track record. But _I_ believe in him, and so does 5, and here she is making sure that he knows that (because he's emotionally ignorant and doesn't seem to realize this). Enjoy the gross 4x5 sibling fluff and expect to see more of them soon, because I just hate them that much and I'll never stop writing them. You can't make me. Honestly, you just can't. ~Happy reading!

**Disclaimer:** I wish I owned 4 and 5 because they're so cute and I want to pinch their cheeks. But I don't. Ain't that sad?

* * *

It's outside in the grass that she finds him, earphones in, eyes closed.

She decides that the music playing from his phone is too loud, as she can hear it even as she approaches him, though it's not nearly clear enough for her to figure out what or who he's listening to. She has an inkling suspicion that it doesn't really matter to him. He's developed a habit of silencing the world and the people within it with music. Abby knows that he's not really listening to what he's listening to and, instead, is just trying to hide from the reality that surrounds him. It's a coping mechanism that he's discovered works for him when he needs time to himself, to think. It's one of the few things he can do to make sure that he doesn't crack when he doesn't want to. She's glad that he's figured out a way to calm himself when he needs it, considering Wally's never been much of a calm person in _any_ situation, but often warns him that he's going to go deaf before he graduates high school if he keeps it up. In response, he always makes a face and tells her that he can't hear what she's saying. It's usually at that point that she hits him.

He doesn't stir when she comes to stand at his side, towering over him. He's lying flat on his back, book bag beneath his head like a pillow, knees up. At this hour the sun has lowered considerably in the sky and the breeze sends a chill up her spine. Winter is coming soon and already the days are getting colder. His hooded jacket, loose and gray, looks to be keeping him plenty warm despite the wind. He looks absolutely comfortable and for a moment she has to question whether or not he's even awake. This wouldn't be the strangest place she's found him asleep over the years. Would not even be close. It's only when she sees his lips mouth along with the music that she knows the answer.

She sits silently beside him and watches him for a moment. It's not very often that he's still like this, or quiet. She takes in his features - his blond hair peeking out from inside the hood of his jacket; his pink lips; his button nose; his sun kissed skin, his freckles. He hasn't always had those, or has he? She can't be sure. She can't seem to remember. This bothers her. She makes note that his eyelashes are longer than she realized before and averts her gaze to the sky, observing that now it's not so much blue as it is pink and purple. She rests her elbows over her knees and sighs. It's been a long day and she's so, so tired.

"What do you want?"

His voice startles her. She turns to look at him and their eyes meet, a collision of brown and green, but only for a second. His eyelids flutter closed and the music continues blasting. She can hear it better from this position, can almost make out the words. Her lips move to answer but she stops herself, reaching over and carefully pulling out one of his earphones first. He can't hear her otherwise. He glares.

"To talk," she tells him. "Turn that shit down, fool. Do you wanna go deaf?"

"At least if I'm deaf I won't have to hear you naggin' at me all the time."

Abby has the decency to roll her eyes at this, ignoring the smug expression he paints along his face. "You're an idiot," is all she says. She knows there isn't much use in upbraiding him about this. Not now. That's not what she's here for. He seems to know this because, though his lips are in a smirk, she can see his eyes are guarded. She can see the wariness etched into his brows. This won't be easy. He never makes it easy. He always plays this game.

He makes the first move. It's inevitable. "I don't want to talk."

She rolls the dice. "Too bad, because that's what we're gonna do."

Wally smiles, big and bright, and pulls a card from the deck. It's one he's played countless times before and is familiar with. He has high hopes for this round, for this game. Abby is a valuable opponent. Skilled and logical and often deceiving. She's won a lot of games, has lost few. He's always liked the challenge of playing her. Out of everyone else she's always been the most determined to win. She's always been the one to never give in and forfeit. He admires that about her even though it drives him mad. "You're cute," he says, laughing. "You almost sound like my mum when you say that. _Too bad, because that's what we're gonna do._ That's good. That's a good one. I'll remember that." With amusement written on his face, he reaches for the earphone she'd plucked from his ear and replaces it, attempting to silence the world once again forevermore.

It doesn't last.

She pulls them both out of his ears and he protests, painfully.

"Hey!"

She confiscates them. Wally sits up and glares at her. She can almost see the steam escaping his nostrils. She moves two spaces ahead.

"Give those back," he demands, trying to sound serious.

Abby shakes her head and pockets them, leaving him vulnerable. She hates to do this to him but she has no other choice. It's the only way she can advance in the game. It's the only way to end this charade. "Uh-uh. You ain't getting 'em back until we're done here. Abby ain't gonna have you ignorin' her while she's talking to you, you rude ass. She didn't come all this way for that."

"Well, I don't know what _Abby_ came all this way for but it sure as hell couldn't have been to talk because that ain't gonna happen. Now give those back, I'm serious. You can't take them. They're not yours." He lunges forward, to reach them, but she blocks the attack. This infuriates him. "Abby!"

"Abby_ told_ you, you'll get 'em back when we're finished. The more time you spend cryin' about this, the more time you spend without 'em. Now can we please move along? Abby's late for dinner and she wants to go home. Preferably sometime before she turns 80."

Wally leans back and crosses his arms, frowning. "Well, go on then. No one's stoppin' you."

She sighs. Always with the games, this kid. He always wants to play. "Yeah. You and Abby both know that ain't gonna happen."

The frown doesn't leave his face. His brows are still furrowed and his eyes are still narrowed and it's obvious he's trying to look angry. Still, it's easy to see the sense of defeat that washes over him. He knows that he hasn't won this round. He never wins this round. She's just too good of a player to lose and he's just too much of a loser to win. It's the way this always plays out. There is no surprise.

Abby is the only one who dares to start round two. "Now, you gonna stop being stupid or we gonna have to keep playing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I never asked you to come here."

"Maybe not with your mouth," she counters, raising a single brow. "But Abby ain't no dolt. You know that. Now, you can keep pretending all you want. That's fine, if that's what makes you feel better. But just know that you ain't foolin' nobody around here, right now. And especially not Abby. Abby's too smart for that. She knows how to play your silly little game, better than you. She's done it too many times. She knows your every card inside and out, like the back of her hand. Play your cards right and maybe, just _maybe_, you'll get your earphones back. Now, your move, moron. Go fish."

The Australian looks furious. "Fine. The weather's nice. Getting colder, right? It'll be winter soon."

"Nice try. Again."

"I had a wonderful lunch today. It was _excellent_."

Abby's tone is firm. "Wally."

He breaks. "What? I don't know what you want me to tell you, okay?! I'm _fine_! Everything's fine, whatever! Everything's good. It is. You don't have to check in with me like I'm a little kid or something. I don't need you to hold my hand. I'm telling you that it's fine, there isn't a problem. The only problem is that you have my stuff and you won't leave me alone. Do you see what I'm getting at here? So, yeah, thank you for wondering. I do appreciate it. You're a nice friend and I love you and I owe you a soda. Whatever. But I don't want to talk to you about this because there's nothing to talk about and talking about something that doesn't need to be talked about is just _such_ a waste of time and...well...I think you get it. Like you said, you ain't no dolt, so..." He shrugs, then continues. "Go fish."

She doesn't even blink. "You sound upset."

"Well, _of course_ I'm upset! You don't stop. What do you want from me?"

Abby makes the next move. "You know we were just playin' with you, right?"

"Enough," he says, holding a hand up to his face. He's never been good at poker. His expression gives everything away. Abby now has all his cards, knows the only moves he can make next. He's going to lose. It's inevitable. "Just...stop, okay? I know what you're trying to do and it's fine. You don't need to apologize. I know that you guys didn't mean anything by it. And I didn't take it to heart. I'm not that stupid, believe it or not. I know it's hard to wrap your head around that. But it's really fine, honestly. We had a good laugh and a good time. I don't see why you're making this an issue when it's nothing. We were all just joking. Are we finished here?"

It doesn't seem to be the case. "Abby's serious. Nobody meant it."

Wally has to scoff. "Yeah, okay. Great. We've settled that, then. Awesome, thank you. Give me my earphones."

She doesn't. Instead, she meets his eyes and, again, brown collides with green. He does his best to look annoyed with her, because he is, but ends up looking mostly tired. His gaze falls and she opens her mouth and continues. "Look, genius. Abby knows what you're thinkin'. Abby knows you more than you realize, whether you want to admit it or not. Maybe more than you even know yourself. And don't be so surprised about that. Abby knows you try pretty hard to fight this stuff but you ain't that hard to read, sorry to say. You really ain't that hard to figure out. You're just gonna have to deal with that. And Abby knows that you don't wanna play this game again. You don't have enough moves for that. And she doesn't wanna play either, so she's gonna say this once and only once. You better be listening."

He rolls his eyes. It means she has his attention.

"When we said that you couldn't do that, we were joking. You know how it is. We tease you, you tease us. It's what we do. It's what all friends do. You know what's up. Abby shouldn't need to explain."

"Then why _are_ you?"

"Because," she says, smacking him gently over the head. "Clearly, somethin' in that big head of yours has malfunctioned and isn't processing everything correctly. And, as supervisor, it's Abby's job to make sure everything is working the way it should be - it's one of her overseeing duties. And that noggin of yours obviously ain't working right. Abby's just trying to fix it. So, shut up and stop asking questions and let Abby finish."

Having little choice, he does what he's told. He wants his earphones back.

She continues. "Abby will try to make this easy for you to understand, since you're having trouble doing that. Now, Abby knows we tease you all the time about your smarts, or lack thereof. We've always done that since the dawn of time. It ain't nothin' new, it's just force of habit. You ain't always Einstein. But you ain't no fool, either, Wally. We all know that. A lot of people do. It just might not be easy to see it because everyone's always trying to have fun and mess around all the time. You can ask anyone and they'll tell you the same. But you're not completely stupid and nobody thinks that you really are. Not any of us, and especially not Abby. She's seen you use that head of yours and she knows what you're capable of. You can do anything that you put your mind to, if you really want it enough. You've done it before. Your grades in elementary school were _scary_ but now you're, what, a B student? If that ain't proof enough that you can do good things then Abby don't know what is. You get stuff done when you really want to, even when people rag on you all the time. Abby's seen you do it lots of times and she believes in you. If you did it again it wouldn't surprise her."

"Okay, so?"

"So..." Abby shrugs, playing her last card. "If you want to be a doctor, be a doctor. Ain't nobody stopping you. If you want to be a vet, be a vet! Be an astronaut. Hell, be an _actor_ for all Abby cares! Do it if you _want_ to. Even if nobody believes that you can. Prove them wrong! Prove everybody wrong! Show them what you got. Show them what you can do and make them feel like idiots for ever doubting you. It don't matter what anyone else thinks. It only matters what _you_ think, and it only matters what _you_ want. So, if you want to be a doctor, you be a fucking doctor. Doesn't matter what anyone has to say about it. Not Abby, not Hoagie. Not even your mama. If you want to go to medical school then you _go_ to medical school and you do your best to pass your classes and do your internships and everything you gotta do to get what you want. You want to be a doctor, _be_ a _doctor_. You can do it if you really want to do it. Nobody should get in the way of that. Not you and especially not anyone else. Nobody's got that right to hold you back from what'll make you happy. Don't let people hold you back. It ain't worth it. Don't give that to them. You understand?"

Wally bites his lip and stares at the grass, unsure of how to respond. A moment passes.

Abby takes this as a cue to finish. "Wals. Trust when Abby tells you, it wouldn't surprise her to see you do what it is you wanna do. You're a smart kid, even if you don't always act like it or show it. Your grades are good, at least compared to how they used to be before you started putting actual _effort_ into your work. Just keep it up and don't stop chasin' that dream if you can help it. You don't need anyone else to tell you that you can do it. You gotta listen to only yourself. If you have your own back, then anything is possible. Abby knows that sounds cheesy but it's true. Have your own back and you can do almost anything. You _can_ do anything. Just do it."

Another moment passes before he responds. "You're right. That _does_ sound cheesy. Have you ever considered becoming a motivational speaker?"

"Nah. Abby don't care about motivating the masses. It's bad enough Abby's gotta motivate you and the other freaks that she's stuck with. It ain't no easy job but somebody's gotta do it." She offers him a smile and is pleased when he returns it. He's had enough sulking for one day and she's had enough of starving. She reaches an arm over and encompasses his neck in a choke hold, using her free hand to briefly mess his hair, despite his weak protests. "Aw, shut up. Abby missed pork chops over this. They're probably all cold now, if her family even saved her any. She's gotta get you back somehow."

"Pork chops, huh?" He straightens himself when she releases him and combs through his hair with his fingers. "Guess I should get home for dinner too now that you mention it. It's getting late and it's getting cold. Not to mention I'm getting hungry. _Plus_, I've really had to pee for like the past forty-five minutes and I don't know where there's a bathroom nearby. I'm not sure I can hold it much longer. If I laugh something bad will probably happen." He heaves a sigh and pushes himself into a standing position, dusting the dirt off of his jeans. He watches as she follows his lead, reaching for his book bag and pocketing his phone. Again, he smiles. "What I said, earlier, about you sounding like my mum...it wasn't true. You're much scarier than she is. She doesn't hit me like you do."

Abby laughs at this. She shakes her head and pats him over the shoulder and turns to walk away, in the direction of home. "Whatever it takes to get you to listen, jackass. Now goodbye. Abby can't wait another second to eat or she may very well keel over and die of starvation. If she does, that'll be on you. You get your skinny little ass home and do the same. There's no meat on you anymore. Not that there ever was any." She takes only two steps before she realizes something. Stopping, she reaches into her pocket and turns to him, holding out her hand. "Oh, Wait. Wally, here. Before Abby forgets."

Wally takes the earphones from her and suddenly looks serious. "Thank you."

"Mhm. You're lucky Abby remembered, or else you would've never seen those things again. Not that that would really be a bad thing, considering you make yourself more and more deaf every time you use them. Idiot, swear it." She turns and begins to walk home, hands in her pocket. "See ya at school tomorrow, Einstein. Maybe tomorrow you'll actually be on time for once. Wouldn't that be a miracle."

"No, Abby. Really...thank you. I mean, for what you said and everything...I really appreciate it. You really are a good friend."

She doesn't even turn around. She just keeps walking. "Mm. Abby knows. And there ain't no need for thanks, so, don't mention it. It's all part of the job. Now go home, genius. Before you mess yourself. And if there's any chance that you don't make it in time before that happens, then make sure to be a doll and send Abby pictures. "


End file.
